Collapse? No, this is just everyday life.

The day before the release, Nangong Yu's purchased press releases had already been bombarding game news outlets.

With the author of *To the Moon*'s new book about to be released, can *Hollow Knight* achieve similar success?

'A new designer's first foray into a completely new subject: success or failure?'

"I did a frame-by-frame analysis of the Hollow Knight trailer, and this game has surprised me so much."

If you go to the website, you'll find that most of the posts are discussing Hollow Knight, and the popularity is off the charts. There are people who are optimistic, pessimistic, indifferent, and just watching the drama unfold.

Unfortunately, he can't yet create a huge stir in the gaming world just by having a name like some of the old scoundrels from his previous life.

To achieve better results for the game, marketing and promotion are crucial; don't skimp on that.

Thanks to its financial power, Hollow Knight gained a huge amount of attention in a short time, and the game was launched on the Titan Games platform at 10:00 AM sharp, priced at 48 game points, with a 10% discount in the first week.

As the official livestreaming channel of Gensokyo, Sirin naturally downloaded the game as soon as possible.

Because of her proximity to the source, Sirin always gets firsthand information from Gensokyo Company. Moreover, because of "To the Moon," the viewers in the live stream have a very good impression of the company, so they are naturally quite excited.

Taking advantage of Saturday's rest, Xilin planned to have a great time all day.

The live stream started early. After being annoyed by the constant barrage of "Miss Pufferfish" comments, Xilin took a deep breath and decided not to stoop to the level of these jerks.

In the corner of her live stream screen, on the table covered by the camera, was a photo of her and Ellie taken in Europe, with Ellie's autograph and a message of blessing written on it.

Xilin had been showing off this for a long time, which made the envious viewers very happy. Some fans wanted to buy it at a high price, but Xilin refused without thinking. This was a photo of her and her idol, how could she sell it!

Of course, everyone in the group photo was wearing normal clothes; Xilin had no intention of giving these unserious viewers any perks.

"Hollow Knight was released today, so we're here to give it a try."

[Hurry up and bring it out, I can't wait!]

Such comments kept scrolling by, prompting Xilin to wave her hand repeatedly at the camera: "Don't worry, don't worry, it's already downloaded and is being installed."

As the popularity of the live stream gradually increased, Xilin was secretly delighted. She never expected that her initial intention to help a friend would bring her so many benefits. In the past six months, her number of fans has almost doubled.

Soon, the game was installed, and she couldn't wait to open it, a game that had already filled her with anticipation.

Then, a dark and deep interface took over her main screen, with the four large, fluorescent characters 'Hollow Knight' appearing at the top of the screen, standing in stark contrast to the darkness of the background. In the lower right corner was a constantly rotating red and white yin-yang symbol representing Gensokyo Corporation.

Soothing background music begins to play softly, with gentle piano music seemingly revealing some unspeakable past events.

"As expected, the music is still top-notch."

Not only Xilin, but the comments section also expressed its admiration. The atmosphere had already been created for you from the very beginning.

After listening for a while, amidst the constant urging from the audience, Xilin pressed the 'Start Game' button.

The image gradually fades away, and against the pitch-black background, a faint glow appears intermittently, accompanied by lines of text that gradually emerge.

In the distant, desolate wilderness, the mention of your name evokes feelings of awe and regret.

No one can tame our wild souls, and you have accepted the challenge.

Under the palest gaze, you, Professor, we change; instinct is redeemed.

You brought a world that insects and wild beasts could never have dreamed of.

—From *The Elegy of Hallownest*, written by the teacher Monomon.

"I hate the Riddler."

Just as Sirin made a comment, the opening CG appeared on the screen.

Amidst the whistling, chaotic noise, dust scattered across the dilapidated, gray-black world. Chains, rising from the bottom up, suspended the bound objects high above. Suddenly, a bright light illuminated their pupils, and cracks appeared on the bound bodies.

But soon, the seal reopened, and the golden light faded once more.

Then, the scene shifts, and the background music changes accordingly.

Beside a peculiar snail-shaped building, a tiny, beetle-like figure wearing a cape and with a small white head, looking incredibly cute, slowly descended the steps in the distance.

Then, a snail-shaped street lamp flashed by, drawing the eye closer to the little man.

On his small white head were two large, black, swirling eyes that were not clearly visible. He carried a cracked bone nail on his back, and his cloak was tattered, giving him the appearance of someone who had experienced many vicissitudes and traveled for a long time.

As the scene zooms out again, the little knight is now standing on the edge of a cliff where the cold wind howls, looking up silently at the only light in the darkness in the distance.

The scattered starlight along the way seemed like road signs guiding his way.

Then, he jumped off the cliff.

The game begins here.

"Let me see what's going on."

Talking to herself, Sirin began to explore various operations on the flat ground.

Move left and right, jump, slash, and then...

"That's it?"

Is this all there is to an action game? But the little knight's movements are pretty smooth.

With a little thought to herself, Sirin controlled her character to start walking to the right.

Soon, an obstacle appeared in front of her, and Sirin instinctively swung her knife.

With a loud crack, the obstacle shattered into pieces, breaking into a pile of small stones.

"Wait, this feel?"

Frowning, Sirin swung her arms twice in the air. Then, seeing another obstacle not far away, she immediately controlled the little knight to run over.

Then, he swung his knife.

Snapped.

The obstacle broke again.

"Hiss~ This feels a bit too good."

The little knight's fluid movements, combined with the light and sound effects of the sword striking objects, create a remarkably responsive feel.

This was something that Nangong Yu and Bronya had been researching from the very beginning, and they optimized it until the game was completed. It could be said that it was several levels better than the original idea in Nangong Yu's mind.

Most players understand how important feel is for action games.

With anticipation in her heart, Sirin encountered her first little monster.

It was a cute little beetle crawling towards her.

Without saying a word, Xilin swung her sword again, and with two swift strokes, she cut the little beetle down.

Compared to obstacles, the monster's equally smooth hit animations combined with the little knight's attack animations take the feel to another level.

"This game is pretty fun."

As she spoke, Sirin slashed down several more monsters in quick succession, her confidence soaring. She proudly declared to the audience, "The designer told me before that this game would be somewhat challenging, but now it doesn't seem too difficult. Watch me clear it in one life!"

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Kill! Kill! Kill!

"This initial map must have been made by Bronya."

Without any verbal prompts, the game uses a series of simple and clever level designs to help players understand some basic or extended operations, and you can vaguely see the shadow of the previous game, Alahatto.

After leaping onto several raised platforms and killing a few buzzing bugs in mid-air with her sword, Sirin made her way through almost unimpeded. She even narrowly avoided a small trap set by Bronya—a bug that suddenly appeared where the little knight had jumped.

The little monster almost made Sirin 'furious', and she turned around and slashed the little bug twice, knocking it down.

"This is it?! This is what you think you can do to ambush my Lady Sirin?!"

An extremely smug expression appeared on her face, and she began to utter sarcastic remarks. Clearly, she had become somewhat arrogant.

Soon, a patch of sharp spikes on the ground blocked Sirin's path. After several attempts, Sirin realized she couldn't reach the other side by jumping alone. Everyone widened their eyes, hands on their keyboards, ready to laugh at the pufferfish. But Sirin glanced disdainfully at the comments and confidently said, "Heh, don't underestimate my dozens of rewatches of the promotional video!!!"

Without hesitation, Sirin leaped again and then slashed down quickly just as the little knight was about to land on the spikes.

There was a crisp "ding" sound.

The little knight's body flew up using the reaction force of the bone nails and spikes. Then, a series of clanging sounds rang out as Sirin smoothly guided the little knight to the other side.

"This is technology, understand?"

A smile played on his lips, giving him an air of superiority.

Oh no, she got me.

[Tsk, what happened? Did I come here to see this?]

[Tch, this tutorial level is such a pain.]

......

Ignoring the sarcastic comments in the live chat, Xilin was filled with smugness and her confidence swelled.

She guided the little knight forward, and soon cleaved open a stone gate. Bright light shone on the little knight, and she passed through the gate to a declining town called Dirtmouth.

The only insect elder in the town greeted the little knight and, like the village chief in every RPG game's starting village, began to tell the little knight the background story of this world.

"A prosperous insect dynasty, unknown changes, the vanished insect people, an aura of madness, the pursuit of desire, graves, and the seal from the very beginning of the CG..."

While intently watching the plot, Xilin extracted what she considered to be key information from her mouth, and this meticulous manner made the audience look forward to it.

Could it be that in such a short time, Sirin could actually see something?

Sirin sat the little knight on the amulet chair, ignoring the pop-up interface. She frowned and closed her eyes, opening them only after several seconds, her expression serious as she stared at the screen.

Just when everyone thought Sirin would have some brilliant insights, a somewhat irritated voice rang out: "What Riddler plot? I don't understand it at all."

【I don't understand why you're pretending to be a bull demon!!】

[I thought pufferfish had gotten smarter, but I was wrong.]

......

"Tsk."

Smacking her lips in annoyance, Sirin closed the empty amulet interface and headed right. Soon, she fell from a vertical well into a new map called 'Forgotten Crossroads'.

"Although I don't know what the game's plot is about, or what I should do next, but!"

Sirin's expression turned serious, and she grabbed the bone nail and charged toward the monster that appeared on the map.

All I know is that I'm about to go on a killing spree!!!